Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable.
(1) Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to guitars.
More particularly, this invention pertains to a method and apparatus for producing acoustical guitar sounds by using an electric guitar.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
The first references to stringed instruments appears in Persian and Chinese writing from the 800""s. Developments over the next 800 years lead to a variety of stringed instruments including the violin. The violin includes a hollow body or xe2x80x9cboxxe2x80x9d, a fingerboard or neck attached to the body, and a plurality of strings extending over the body and fingerboard. A bow is utilized to produce vibrations in the strings. The body resonates and amplifies sound produced by the vibrating strings. The body of a violin is constructed utilizing wood, glue, and varnish or oil. The methods used to construct a violin determine the tone and amplification achieved when the violin is played. The violins made in the 1600""s by Antonio Stradivari are some of the finest made, and other violin makers have for many years attempted to discover and duplicate the techniques utilized by Stradivari. Because of the craftsmanship involved in making a violin, and because of variations in the wood and other materials utilized to make the violin, each individual violin often has its own xe2x80x9cfingerprintxe2x80x9d in terms of the sounds it produces. Musicians can often, for example, distinguish the sound made by one Stradivarius violin from the sound produced by another Stradivarius violin. The sound made by each string, in concert with the various harmonics produced by the strings and the resonant reaction of the violin body to such sounds, collectively contribute to the sound produced by a violin.
The acoustic guitar is another popular stringed instrument. Like a violin, a guitar has a hollow body, a fingerboard, and strings which extend across the body and fingerboard. Like a violin, the body of the guitar functions to resonate when the strings are played and to amplify sound produced by the vibrating strings. The vibration of a guitar string resonates in the top and bottom plates of the guitar, as well as in the air inside the guitar. Characteristics of the guitar body determine the tone produced by the guitar. For example, the materials used to construct the body, the thickness of the materials, how the face plate and backplate of the body are shaped and are connected to the bouts, etc. contribute to the tone produced when the guitar body resonates and amplifies sound produced by the strings.
An electric guitar includes a body, a fingerboard, strings, and transducers mounted on the body adjacent the strings. The electric guitar is connected to an external amplifier and a speaker by an electric cord. Controls on the guitar regulate the sound produced by the guitar. Controls on the external amplifier also further regulate and modify the sound produced by the guitar. When an electric guitar is played, the vibration of each string is sensed by the transducer. Signals generated by the transducer are electronically processed and produce amplified sound that emanates from a speaker that is connected to the electric guitar. An advantage of the electric guitar is the ability to greatly amplify sound. Another advantage is the ability to electronically manipulate the sound. A disadvantage of an electric guitar with respect to an acoustic guitar is that the electric guitar does not utilize a resonating hollow body to produce and amplify sound. The hollow body and tonal qualities of the acoustic guitar are sacrificed for the ability to electronically amplify and electronically manipulate sound. These tonal qualities are often important to the musician and to the listener, which is one reason symphony orchestras do not use electric violins.
Other electronic instruments exist which synthetically produce the notes produced when a guitar is played. For example, electronic keyboards exist which, when a key on the keyboard is depressed, will produce the sound of a guitar, trumpet, or other instrument. One way electronic synthetic instruments produce notes is by using a mathematical analog algorithm to produce the note. Another way electronic synthetic instruments produce notes is by using the first two to three seconds of a digital file. The digital file comprises a digital recording made when the note is played on a selected instrumentxe2x80x94for example, a guitar. The first two to three seconds of the digital file includes the xe2x80x9cattackxe2x80x9d portion of the note and a part of the xe2x80x9cdecayxe2x80x9d portion of the note. The last part of the decay portion is repeated over and over to simulate artificially the remainder of the decay portion of the note. Accordingly, instruments which synthetically produce the sound of a guitar rely on electronic digital processing and do not require the resonating body, the strings, or any other part of a guitar. Synthetic instruments eliminate the need for and the tonal qualities associated with an acoustic guitar, as well as eliminating the need for musicians to learn to play a guitar. Synthetic instruments similarly eliminate the need for an electric guitar because vibrating strings are not utilized by synthetic instruments to produce sound in synthetic instruments.
While electric guitars are in wide use and are championed by many individuals, one disadvantage of an electric guitar is that the sound it produces is not as rich and does not have the tonal qualities of notes produced by an acoustic guitar. Another disadvantage of a conventional electric guitar is that it does not satisfactorily simulate the playing characteristics of an acoustic guitar because when a user puts his hand across all of the strings of an electric guitar to mute the guitar, a spike of sound is produced followed by no sound because vibration of the strings is stopped. In contrast, when a user places his hand across all of the strings of an acoustic guitar to mute the guitar, vibration of the strings is halted and the acoustic guitar immediately stops producing sound.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to produce an electric guitar which more nearly replicated the playing qualities of an acoustic guitar and which produced tonal qualities comparable to that of an acoustic guitar.
It would also be highly desirable to produce an electric guitar which an individual could learn to play during a time span that was less than the time span ordinarily required to learn to play an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the instant invention to provide an improved electric guitar.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of producing an electric guitar which electronically senses movement of the guitar strings and produces the resonant acoustic sounds of an acoustic guitar.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved electric guitar in which the sound produced by vibration of the strings is muted so it generally is not audible to a person listening to the guitar.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved electric guitar in which the sounds produced during muting of the strings comprise sounds produced by a resonating hollow body.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an improved electric guitar which an individual with limited or no musical experience can quickly learn to play.